"A plague o' both your houses" – Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet)

Chapter Nine: Out of the Coffin

Morning had approached quicker than she was expecting. If Guinevere were to be in San Myshuno on time, she would have to leave within the hour, and she wasn’t sure she was ready. Samuel told her it was just nerves and that it was perfectly normal to be nervous about something like this.
The last thing Guinevere did before leaving was drink her safety net — a sip of perfected sun resistant serum. Living in San Myshuno, with huge windows, helped her build a natural immunity to sun but it still sizzled her marble-esque skin. With this serum, there was no sizzling of any kind. Maybe I should sizzle…it would convince the people I am a vampire. But if I sizzled for too long, I could burst into flame and that’s not very wise for my survival. She lifted the bottle off of the fireplace mantle and took a sip. She could feel the warmth spread through her. A bright light engulfed her for a moment, blinding her temporarily. After that moment was gone, she was blind no more and felt it was safe to leave now.

Guinevere stood at the podium, hundreds of people gathered around. Her face was plastered on billboards, with the current date and time and in large red letters “Vampire?” was sprawled on the lower half of the advertisement. Caleb spared no expense. At least it’s a decent picture.
“Hello! I had a speech planned, but I tripped whilst I was getting off of the train and they fell into a large puddle. But that’s not what you’re here for.” Guinevere knew she was starting off horribly, it had been ages since she last stood in front of a large crowd. Just pretend this is a League meeting… “My name is Guinevere Straud, and I am a vampire.” That statement opened the floodgate of questions. “I’ll answer your questions in a moment. There are a few things I need to say first.
I am the current monarch of my people, and coming out like this has been something I’ve wanted for my people for a very, very long time. I can assure and promise that those who wanted to come out of the coffin are peaceful and human friendly – we have a strict law that prevents non-consensual feeding.” Guinevere left out the ending of that law: Only royalty and the League can feed off of humans without consent – it was something she was going to change. “And I would like to say a huge thank you to Caleb Vatore and his contacts. Without them I wouldn’t have been able to see my dream come true. I will take questions now.”

The first questions were the ones she was expecting;
“If you’re a vampire, why aren’t you burning?” A bulky man, no doubt coming out of the gym, was the first to ask.
“I would be burning if I didn’t take a serum for it. I almost didn’t take it, but I thought my existing was more important than proving my existence via burning myself.” Guinevere wanted to roll her eyes, but she was expecting that to be the first question.
“Are vampires weak to garlic?” A little girl in the front of the crowd asked, pure curiosity and innocence on her face.
“Yes, some are. Though, some higher ranked vampires have built up an immunity to it – like me for example.”
“Do you have a reflection in the mirror?” A female blonde reporter asked.
“No. Vampires don’t have a reflection. That’s why my family employs humans. Yuki does my makeup now that I’m queen. Before that, my friend Diego did my makeup. If anyone is willing to build a vampire friendly mirror, that would be most welcome!”

“Why are you just now coming into the human world?” Guinevere thought about the answer carefully.
“Well, vampire were in the human world until 1544. My great-grandfather was a tyrant and terrorized the humans that trusted us. So he was executed. My grandfather became king and wanted to just stay in the safety of his world, my father was the same way. Which was fine, but our people have grown stagnant – there’s fear among them to branch out and leave the sanctuary zones. This is my first act as queen, to free them from their fear of humans and to help promote friendship.
I lived here, in San Myshuno for seventy-three years. In fact-” She turned and pointed to one of the large skyscrapers behind her and turned back to the crowd. “That was my apartment building until my father died. I rarely came down out of fear of being found out.”
“You said seventy-three years. Just how old are you?” Guinevere inwardly groaned. She knew that question would going to come up eventually. She thought it would’ve been asked sooner.
“As many times as I’ve been asked this, one would think I would look up the answer, because I honestly don’t remember. The years have blurred together…I’ve seen the rise and fall of great empires. I’ve met amazingly powerful and inspirational humans. If I were to guess, I think I was born sometime in the BCs. I’m ancient.”

“You look fantastic for your age, Your Majesty.” A voice called out – a voice she recognized from somewhere. She looked at the crowd and saw him. Broad shoulders, long auburn hair, dark pools for eyes, and cheeks that could cut glass. But…that was a dream. Ho-how is he real? She gripped the podium for support. She felt dizzy and lightheaded as everything that happened in the glade came rushing back to her. Yuki rushed to her side.
“I-I’m sorry everyone, I think all of this excitement is causing the potion to have a side effect.” Yuki spoke, panic in her voice.
“Nonsense Yuki. I’ll be fine. I didn’t eat before coming out here, remember. I was too excited to eat.” Guinevere lied, and she knew Yuki knew it – but she also knew Yuki wouldn’t question her until they were home. “With that said, I think I need to end this early and sit. Thank you everyone, for the coming out, asking questions, and for giving me a chance. More information will be coming out in the next few weeks. I mean when I say I want vampires and humans to co-exist harmoniously.” She stepped away from the podium, her legs were weak. Yuki helped her to a nearby chair as the crowd dispersed. Only a man remained, the unnamed man from her dream.

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7 comments on “Chapter Nine: Out of the Coffin”

Guinevere looked so cute giving that press conference, I wanted to pinch her cheeks despite her being an ancient vampire. Seriously, she somehow manages to look adorable and sophisticated at the same time! She really does look fantastic for her age. 😉

I think the lore you’ve created for your vampires is so fascinating, and I can’t wait to find out more.